We just spoke with Greg Palast, whose Armed Madhouse paperback (or "mysterious 'yellow book,'" as lazy Washington Post blogger, Emil Steiner "reported" it), was being waved and alluded to by University of Florida student Andrew Meyer just prior to his being Tasered by UF cops earlier this week.

Palast says he is offering the journalism student a job as a paid intern. Meyer had described Palast, in his question to Sen. John Kerry, asking why he conceded the 2004 Presidential Election so early, as "the top investigate journalist in America."

"Did you notice he never let the book touch the ground?" an impressed Palast wryly noted.

Meyers was Tasered by the authorities as the majority of the students in the crowd sat passively during their fellow student's pleas for help and shrieks of pain. He was then arrested and charged with a felony for "inciting a riot and disrupting a school function." (Police report here [PDF])

"His attorneys seem to be keeping him on ice," Palast told us, when we asked if he'd been able to officially offer the gig to Meyer.

Indeed, our note to Meyer sent Tuesday, inviting him to Guest Blog his experience here at The BRAD BLOG, has so far similarly gone unanswered.

First of all he clearly wasn't interested in hearing any of Kerry's answers. Secondly, this kind of stunt does more to marginalize real valid concerns over election theft as wild-eyed people shouting about Skull and Bones. Are stunts and YT videos that last refuge we have because no one in the media will listen to facts?

I'm also mad that the 10 second soundbite clip is misleading and makes it appear he was being arrested for mentioning blowjobs and skull&bones.

NONE - if you watch the video that shows his entire commentary and 3 question you will see that he talks about 1:30 minutes. He calmly thanks Kerry for coming and then is repeatedly interrupted by the female cop standing behind him to whom he relies "thank you". BTW is can't see any line that he supposedly barged - just him, the mic and bunch of authoritarians.

After each interruption he get progressively adjitated. He states that he has three questions then is assaulted by the cops before he could finish the third question.

Then he goes ballistic. I for one can't blame him - I'd have done the same. I'm glad I wasn't there as I'd have attacked the cops in his defense and be in jail right now.

He's an activist. Show me an activist that doesn't act up in a way that get attention and I'll show you a completely ineffective activist. It's not a crime - at least it didn't used to be.

People that think the cops were justified or that this kid did anything to initiate this kind of treatment make me sick.

The videos that The BRAD BLOG posted, show the entire question(s) asked by Meyer. If you haven't seen that part of the video, blame Fox "News", CNN and MSNBC (and toss WaPo in there for good measure). Not us. Or Meyer.

Kudos to Meyer for being courageous and maintaining his right to free speech even with 4 goons flanking him as he attempted to do so. The obvious "set-up" by the police to entrap him and then arrest him was appalling to witness. Clearly, these goons will be given an early retirment, if not each sued personally for violation of his civil rights.

But Kerry just sitting there and witnessing it all and doing nothing is rather upsetting and curious. He claims not to have seen it but, come on....I know that auditorium and he had to have seen it - everyone else did, for goodness sakes.

Equally as important as this obvious violation of Meyer's civil rights was the omission by Fox News to even air the questions because they open several cans of worms on this administration.
1) The stolen election of 2004 and the allusion to Palast's book whose research indicates that it definitely was.
2) The hackable and obviously hacked electronic voting machine problem which still has yet to be dealt with by this administration of smoke & mirrors. Of course, they love it: They were the ones doing it!
3) The impeachment of George W. Bush - which 70% of americans now feel should occur and is not happening.
4) The drumbeat of lies to foster enthusiasm for a war with Iran.

In his allotted time, which was not very much, Andrew Meyer did more for this democracy than anyone in Congress to date has done. He's done more for this democracy in that brief span of time to illustrate just how far down the rabbit hole we've gone as a nation and the fact that it must be stopped right now if this democracy is to survive.

I say - bring on more of the courageous young people like Andrew Meyer! Obviously, the elders have blown it and ruined their country; it's time for them to awaken, unite, and admonish the rest of us for the crimes we are committing by NOT standing up to these constitutional violations occurring every day.

Kudos Meyer! Good luck in your new position - no one deserves more than you do!

Well, the police are thugs who assaulted this young man - it's hardly surprising they would then lie about it saying Meyer was inciting a riot, when the audience was virtually ignoring him, or wishing his 30 or 60 seconds in front of the mic was up already. After all, Bush, America's great leader is responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.2 million Iraqis (latest report) and displacement of another 4 million Iraqis who have fled their country in the face of unlivable circumstances. Bush also lies about it (everything) - what a leader! Bush now says America is doing just great economically. Right!!! When the pres can break the law constantly and get away with it, why can't the police and anyone else who believes they have Bush's approval and protection also break the law and get away with it??? It's follow the leader, children...

To support my above point, over at Huffington Post, Bush is on video saying he got a "B" in Economics 101 - the college transcript says he got a "C-" (C minus). Now he needs to bribe someone at the college to change his transcript. It's so hard, so much work, being pres.

Over at Crooks and Liars website (scroll down), there's a story about a father (whose soldier son died in Iraq) who was beaten up (after a peace rally speech) by the "Gathering of Eagles" pro-war group. Don't worry, the pro-war group are in Bush's camp, so they won't be subjected to the law. And probably O'Reilly will call the father a "wimp", or some such other nasty insult - and Americans just shrug it off. Who cares in America? Just follow the leader...he can do whatever harm he wants and get away with, and so can his supporters...so there!

I am a huge conservative and what I saw was a man who was emotional about his question and he tried to inform the audience of what he was setting up to ask Kerry. When he finished the video clearly shows the moderator give the cops the "single" to escort him out after which Kerry says,"Let me answer his question". Then Meyer freaked out by why the hell he was I being asked to leave, fights for his rights of free assembly that was being taken from him. He was being escorted out yet not arrested at the time and later charged with resisting arrest. When did the actually you are under arrest take place for him to be resisting arrest? Reminds me of when Lincoln suspended habeous corpus to arrest demonstrators without providing cause or reason. Regardless of his motives he did nothing wrong to be hauled out of there by superior authority of I'm a cop and you have to do what I say period.

I've watched the videos at least 30 times and all I saw was the enescapeble truth of all charges being dropped and a 1st ammendment lawsuit.

To the police, next time confiscate all recording devices and you will not have to worry about just using your word to describe what happened to a judge.

Police have released the incident report detailing the Tasering of a University of Florida student during a campus forum with Sen. John Kerry Monday, and the officer who actually Tasered Andrew Meyer wrote in the report that Meyer later told police, [b]"You didn't do anything wrong." [/b]

In the 12-page report, which gives accounts of the incident from the perspective of eight different officers who were present Monday afternoon, [b]Officer Nicole Mallo writes that Meyer would only resist officers when cameras were present.

"As (Meyer) was escorted down stairs (at the University Auditorium) with no cameras in sight, he remained quiet, but once the cameras made their way down stairs he started screaming and yelling again," Mallo wrote.

Mallo was one of two officers who actually rode in the vehicle as Meyer was escorted to the Alachua County jail, and she said said he told them during the ride: "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job," according to Mallo's account.

Mallo also wrote in her report that he asked, at one point, if cameras would be present at the jail. /b]

The report details the events leading up to Meyer's arrest, saying that Meyer was in line to ask a question of Sen. Kerry when it was decided that no more questions would be allowed.

Meyer continued down the aisle toward Sen. Kerry angrily, according to police,[b] saying he wanted the senator to answer his question because he had been waiting for two hours. [/b]

Though Sen. Kerry directed that Meyer be allowed to ask his question, police reported that Meyer did not ask any specific question and instead "badgered" the senator, and at one point said something about President Clinton being impeached over a sexual act.

At that point,[b] police reported that ACCENT Director Max Tyroler turned off Meyer's microphone and asked police to escort him out of the auditorium, saying, "He had said enough," according to Officer Mallo's report. [/b]

Officers then proceeded to attempt to remove Meyer from the room, but when he resisted, they placed him on the ground and tried to handcuff him. The six officers who actually took part in holding Meyer down while he was being handcuffed reported that they were only able to get a handcuff[b] on his right hand because he was squirming so much. [/b]

The supervising officer, Sgt. Eddie King, attempted to Taser Meyer on his chest, but he reported that his Taser would not deploy. He then instructed Mallo to Taser Meyer, and she Tasered him on his shoulder, according to one of the officer's report.

The officers were then able to fully handcuff Meyer and escort him from the building. Each of the six officers reported that Meyer yelled things like, "They're going to kill me," and, "They are giving me to the government," while he was being taken from the room.

Just before Monday's scuffle started, Meyer asked a woman to tape his exchange with Kerry. One officer said the woman was "there to film him" and that Meyer asked, "Are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" before beginning his question.

Another officer said the 22-year-old woman said she was in line to ask a question ahead of Meyer when she was asked to tape, but she did not know him.

An officer, however, said in the police report that Meyer's "demeanor completely changed once the cameras were not in sight" and that he was "laughing" and "lighthearted" on the way to jail.

Andrew Meyer just asked three questions here.
Three questions that the U.S. New Media will never ask.
Three questions that the U.S. Congress will never ask.
Three questions that John Kerry will never ask or answer honestly for himself.
Three questions that reflect the true "State of the Union" far more than any speech given by either George Bush or Hillary Clinton.

Andrew Meyer is an intelligent and informed citizen who knows that these questions need to be asked and confronted publically.

The awful truth was revealed in Meyer's attempt to speak out - that The United States is not in any shape, way, or form a society that cares one damn about liberty and human rights anymore.

We are so far removed away from the U.S. Constitution today that if we were to sit down and read it now it would seem as some kind of weird, radical, fringe, utopian document crafted by some drugged-out hippy from his college dorm in the 1960s.

It is a slippery slope we're on when it is treated as a Crime (subject to arrest) to ask long overdue questions during a Q&A proceeding.

Thanks Andrew Meyer for not staying quiet and for caring about the truth.
We need more students and more people just like him.

The crime wasn't that he was subject to arrest. The crime was disrrupting the forum of which he had burst into the theathre room demanding to speak to Kerry like he had some sort of authority. Go and read this- http://supreme.justia.co...us/515/819/case.html#829

This is a law saying that a forum like this has every right to remove someone if they are not staying on topic of the forum whether the event is public or private. We don't need more students like him. Are you aware he's a known prankster? He one time defaced a 9/11 memorial on campus. He also LAUGHED on his way to jail and asked if cameras were going to be there. He's nothing more than a punk who's finally got his karma. And just because someone didn't write their name doesn't mean their comments aren't valid whatever they are. That makes you a hypocrite.

Oh and about the Constitution it applies to the government. Not to the people. It's a set of legal and binding rules that the GOVERNMENT has to follow. So let me ask you Derek something: if someone came to your house and started making a fuss and running around and basically acting like they were five when they're really over twenty what would you do? Would you tell them to leave? If they didn't what would you do then? If you answer that you'd call the cops on them than you'd be a hypocrite and, according to you, you'd be taking away their first amendment right to do and say whatever they want. Can you yell "fire!" in a theatre? Why not? It's public property after all.

{ED NOTE: First line removed. No personal attacks on other commenters, Derek. Normally I'd remove the entire post because of it, but as Emily has posted quite a few items, which ought to be replied to, and the rest of your comments avoid personal attacks, I'll leave the rest. But please watch it next time, or I'll have to remove the entire comment. Thank you. - BF}

Stop your phony propganda.

Meyer did not "burst into the theatre" or any such other false cartoonish exaggerations you may wish to invent.

It was an open mic setup for the students students who were in attendence at the lecture - as Meyer himself had been. Furthermore it was a Q&A session in which students were supposed to ask questions directed to Sen. John Kerry. He even began his questioning by first complimenting John Kerry respectfully as a (uneccessary) polite courtesy!

Meyer committed no crime here. He asked three questions.
There was absolutely no reason on earth to arrest him.
And, his questions were very relevant and very much "on-topic". The questions were about the integrity of the 2004 elections, possible War with Iran and using Impeachment as way to prevent it, and Kerry's past relationship to an unbecoming organization.

What question did you want him to ask, John Kerry's favorite color? Those questions are on-topic.

And, I can see by your comments that you have never read The Constitution or The Bill of Rights. Human beings have the right to speak freely and this in fact was an open mic and a public assembly where questions were in fact sought by the guest speaker Sen. John Kerry.

The Police had no right to arrest this man.
He had a right to stand there in front of an open mic and ask questions during the Q&A forum.

Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go live in Uzbekistan and stay there.

Oh I see. So the studnets who were actually there and reported on the incident have a reason to lie about it. Right. Uh huh. Were you there Derek? Did you witness the whole event or just the five minute video which he only wanted you to see? You didn't see the whole thing funny that is eh? Students who were there in the room reported that. And he also BROKE THE LINE all so he could rant to Kerry. Kerry is a former prosecutor who has taken on the CIA and won, Iran/Contra, closed BCCI and dealt with the mob. I think he knows a little something about court rooms over a twenty-one year old college student who isn't even studying law. Meyer did committ a crime. The police report said, and they told him when he asked, it was inciting a riot. He's a KNOWN PRANKSTER who has done this crap before. He once defaced a 9/11 memorial that UF students made all because of his personal views of 9/11 (that Bush did it himself). Derek I'm studying law. I have the Constitution memorized. I'm even related to one of the founding fathers. I quoted a link to you to go and read a law that states the people who did the forum had every right according to the law to remove him when he got off topic. This was NOT an open mic forum. As a law student I can say that for fact. And no where did I attack you Derek so how childish of you to do so to me. Grow up and get a criminal justice book please. Meyer is a known prankster and he's punk'd you good. He must be looking to take over Ashton Kutcher's show. He even has a website where he's bragged about other pranks and harassing people. I just though everyone deserved to know the truth about Meyer and that he is probably laughing at all of you and his fifteen minute fame. Go and read the police reports yourself Derek. He should be majoring in theatre instead of journalism.

Also on what Meyer said about Kerry and Ohio 2004 let's say Kerry did have some type of evidence. Kerry would have his lawyers petition to the judge for a hearing. Let's say the judge actually lets them have it. They then would go to a prilimary hearing which is where a JURY would hear and see the evidence and THE JURY would decide if any of it was any good. Let's say they did. Than Kerry and his lawyers would go onto the real trial with A NEW JURY who they will present their evidence to and debate over it whether them vs Ken Blackwell or Diebold or both. Than THE JURY would decide (as stated in the Constituion with the fifth/sixth amendments) guilty or innocent. Kerry has said that since there was no whistleblower that made it even more difficult. With "Skull and Bones" who cares? We don't really know anything about this group and they are a private group and have their fourth amendment right. You talk about the Constiution applying for Meyer but than turn around and want to break Kerry's fourth amendment right. He still has it you know for his personal life especially before public service. If you have a problem with what the officers did than you need to take it up with the court room. Their job is to follow the law to the book and to keep the social and civil order. If you don't like how they're doing it go and change/challenge the law.

I also wanted to add this wasn't a public assembly since you had to have a ticket to get in. Most on school events have you have a ticket whether with an actual ticket or your school ID. My school sometimes has a lot of free events (like movies and whatnot) and even with those we still have to use our school ID picture to show that we're students there.

I'm not in a position to argue many of your points but you definitely go overboard in excusing Kerry regarding his actions after the 2004 election. You propose an improbable courtroom scenario by which Kerry would challenge the results of the Ohio presidential election and point out how difficult that scenario would be, especially in the absence of a whistleblower. The FACT is, there were other important ways in which Kerry could have contributed to challenging the 2004 election results. Kerry did not even join in the effort to get a recount of the vote in Ohio, a challenge that was funded by a grassroots effort by the Green and Libertarian Parties who had to raise the funds in a short period of time while Kerry sat by holding onto millions of dollars that were raised and not spent during his 2004 presidential run. Guess he had something more important than our democracy to spend that money on!

Emily,
So what if he is a known prankster? His questions were valid (though the S&B stuff was a bit unnecessary).

Police took him for inciting riot, not for talking out of turn or whatever. He was simply asking too tough questions.
What he might or might not have said in a police car after could well be interpreted as a selfprotection trying to soften these irrational officers who had just used a lethal weapon on him in broad daylight, he was probably scared for his life.

I believe that Andrew Meyer has done a great service in bringing attention to the treasonous sabotage of American democracy by extremist fascists, attacks that the corrupt antitrust-law-hating media conglomerates have utterly failed to report.

In appreciation of Andrew Meyer's having the backbone lacking in mainstream journalists (aka corporate whores), who have utterly failed American democracy (and again shirked their integrity by not properly reporting on the substance of Andrew Meyer's questions), I have put up a blog (very basic) to thank him:http://thankyouandrewmey.../2007/09/19/hello-world/

By the way, I noticed that Andrew Meyer's blog doesn't link to bradblog, but links to other news reports:http://theandrewmeyer.com/

I read above that Mr. Palast offered Mr. Meyer an internship. This intimates that he is involved in journalism. It is not, however a direct statement of the fact.

For me, a journalist (whether a practicing journalist or an individual who is still studying as a student) who has the ability to ask searing questions within a framework of a supine, indolent, biased media, creates a remarkable and necessary foil. It highlights the aforementioned bias of our current media.

As almost everyone on this page knows, European media is quite different from our own. Stories are aired overseas that never seen here. To make my point (if necessary) please ask 100 people about Katherine Gunn. I would be surprised if 5 people could give an accurate answer (she was a British Government employee who leaked information that the United States was spying on the United Nations - regarding the vote to authorize the US to invade Iraq).

Getting back to Mr. Meyer: I don't know the character of the man. Nor will I speculate as to who he is. He may well be a publicity hound. He may also be a very decent man. He may be a young man, about to enter his profession, already fed up with a corrupted media. He may just be a trouble maker. Simply, I do not know.

But to all those critical of Mr. Meyer, please remember that this country was started by trouble makers.

Meyer is probably laughing because he has it all on tape. Hope he sues the bastards. Also hope he has not been damaged in any way by the taser. He fortunately appears to be a large fellow, and was less afraid of standing up and speaking out, which is an unhospitable gesture towards fascism. He has a right to be angry with the American government. And he has the right to verbally express his anger. While he can be asked to leave a venue, having six men jump on him (try and breathe with that weight on you) (luckily he kept squirming - anyone would to relieve pain on the muscles and joints due to pressure being deliberately applied by the knees, legs, arms and weight of the six bastards for the purpose of hurting) and then taser you, because they don't want to hear you, is assault. Hope he sues and wins. He has proved what he and everyone has been reading for years. The Bush administration and his supporting government (including John Kerry) will only tolerate the presence of silent, acquiescent sheep.

I just think he cares about America so much. I wish the media would concentrate on why Kerry isn't starting impeachment. If a student or a casino gambler was later proven to have been cheating the affected party wouldn't just say, "oh well". They would take their $ back or give him an F. Kerry should have yelled at the cops to get their hands off of that kid.

it is a common technique in the right-wing media to turn everything about a person with whom they disagree into a personal referendum. You can attack Meyer all day long. For the sake of argument, lets even suppose he's a megalomanaical whack job. But anything you say about Meyer personally, pro or con, misses the point entirely, which is that the legitimate questions exist about the 2004 (and 2000 and 2002) elections, and they aren't being publicly answered. The media and much of the public is unable or unwilling to come to grips with the fact that our government has been taken over by criminals of the worst stripe.

Tep: This has NOTHING to do with his free speech. He was already causing problems which is WHY THEY WERE ALREADY WATCHING HIM! This was nothing more than a prank. The fact he was laughing at you on the way to jail should tell you enough. The fact he burst into the theatre and demanded to speak to Kerry like he had some sort of authority is crap. He has NO authority since he's not in charge and he didn't deserve even one minute if the event coordinators didn't want him to have it. This is all about HIS ACTIONS NOT HIS WORDS. Go read the police report yourself. He was laughing all the way to the jail and wanted to know IF CAMERAS wanted to be there.(Caps are for emphasis not yelling so please don't think I'm yelling at you)

Steve- You're wrong again. Kerry supported the Green's in their petition. Once the electoral college certified the election it's over. Nothing he could do there except try to stop the voting machine's and help people get their votes WHICH IS WHAT HE'S BEEN DOING SINCE! He's worked with Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton on voting issues since the whole ordeal happened. Funny how you don't mention that eh? And as I've said Kerry's taken on the CIA and won (the drug smuggling in the 80s) so if he can take on the CIA he could take on Diebold and/or Ken Blackwell if he had the abilities to do so. You're missing the fact Steve that a lot of the stuff with the election came out AFTER the electoral college already voted Bush the winner. The Constitution states it's them who decide the final outcome etc. See my example of Andrew Jackson. He thought the election was stolen from him and once the votes were counted and casted as they were done back than he couldn't change the outcome and he just started campaigning more. Same thing with Richard Nixon vs John Kennedy. Nixon thought he won and even did a private investigation but once the ec voted that was it.

You're comparing Andrew Meyer to the founding fathers? To one of my many great uncles? Give me a break! He is NOTHING compared to them and especially my many great uncle! Kerry has taken on the biggest mob of them all: the CIA. If he can WIN against THEM than he could win this case if he had anything. I love how people who don't know law and aren't even law students are proclaiming this guy had his first amendment right taken away and is some kind of martyr. Go read the law I posted about how they had every right to remove a trouble maker.

Cleo- He's laughing at you BECAUSE IT WAS A PRANK! He had this planned and is a known prankster. He's defaced a 9/11 memorial before at UF. I'd rather believe the students who were there than some stupid five minute video that doesn't show you the whole thing. Oh and Cleo how come he was only being a drama queen when the camera's were around? LOL. Face it you guys have been punk'd.

Jay- Kerry can't start impeachment. Once again someone who has no clue about law talking to someone who is a lawyer about law. LOL! Kerry can't start impeachment why? IT STARTS IN THE HOUSE! If you want impeachment start to Steny Hoyer or Nancy Pelosi. Kerry is in the Senate which is where impeachment DOES NOT start. C'mon people. Constitution 101. Even if you just go and read it you can see that.

Wayne- Oh so now you're calling me a rightwinger. How nice of you. I'm actually a socialist so now you're doing the same thing you're accusing me of doing. What a hypocrite. You're also missing the point. This was NOT a free speech issue and two that he is a known prankster and this was a prank. Why else would he laugh on his way to jail? Did you read the report I posted? Obviously not. Go read it. Maybe than you'll see for yourself that you've been punk'd by the new Ashton Kutcher. Once again from the AP link: Just before Monday's scuffle started, Meyer asked a woman to tape his exchange with Kerry. One officer said the woman was "there to film him" and that Meyer asked, "Are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" before beginning his question.

Another officer said the 22-year-old woman said she was in line to ask a question ahead of Meyer when she was asked to tape, but she did not know him.

An officer, however, said in the police report that Meyer's "demeanor completely changed once the cameras were not in sight" and that he was "laughing" and "lighthearted" on the way to jail.

Oh and to all you talking about his rights etc. what about the free speech rights of the students who he broke in line in front of? I guess you don't care about their first rights right? Oh and since Mr. Meyer can do anything he wants apparently and not have to follow the laws/rules like everyone else than you have no right to go around and stop Bush from his wiretapping. If Mr. Meyer can get away with the law so can everybody else. So either one person follows the rules like everyone else or nobody has to follow the rules. And please don't compare Meyer to my many great uncle.

YOU are the one misconstruing the facts here, all that anyone needs to understand is that he simply asked 3 relevant questions of which the media flatly refuse to ask and for exercising his right to do so he was assaulted by 6 rent a fascist and tasered for no damn reason. Its that simple.

You are WRONG.
Until and unless the young man was threatening or disrupting, no one had the legal right to remove him or place a hand on him.
That he was animated and emotional does not make him dangerous.
That his questions were inconvenient to some, does not excuse the actions of the police.
He was disrupting nothing.
It was his turn.
He was asking important questions of which he wanted to tape the answers- nothing strange there.
He was polite towards Kerry at all times during his alloted 2 minutes.
Had the police not laid a hand on him, Kerry would have answered the questions -or not- and since it was time for the assembly to end, it would have ended.

The bottom lines is-
This is NOT the land of the free any more.
Everyone needs to resist the gestapo tactics.
Everyone needs to confront the corporate machine with the truth.
Everyone needs to defend their fellow citizens.

Emily, you say Meyer said "You didn't do anything wrong"...so that means the police didn't do anything wrong??? Because Meyer said that??? That makes no sense!!! It is irrelevant to whether his free speech rights were broken!!! "Saying" something isn't evidence, if his freedom of speech rights were violated.

Furthermore, you keep quoting Mallo's police report. Ever think she's "saying" something that's not true, in the report? Is that unbelievable, that a police report would be biased towards the police?

I think the VIDEO TAPE is WHAT HAPPENED! You're quoting what Meyer said, and what the police report said. I'm looking at the VIDEO!!!

I see a 21-year-old college student, ON HIS OWN CAMPUS, being tasered because an OUT OF TOWN POLITICIAN came to THIS STUDENT'S CAMPUS, and he was harrassed while asking legitimate questions.

"Emily" wrote:
> "Meyer did committ a crime. The police report said, and they told him when he asked, it was inciting a riot."

Total nonsense.

1. The Police report is, of course, biased and false - as the video evidence of those same events clearly prove.

2. There was no riot at all. Meyer simply asked three questions at the mic. That ain't any "riot" whatsoever. Now, you might possibly accuse Meyer of hogging the mic a little too long - but big deal. That happens all the time at Q&A forums. That is not tantamount to either a RIOT or tantamount to a crime of any kind, shape, or form. Never before has anyone been criminally arrested for hogging the mic. Furthermore, the questions he asked were important, serious, and substantive questions and deserved to be raised, thus, a little bit of extended time was both harmless and warranted.

3. The great disruption to the Q&A session began only once the Police gestapo moved in to manhandle Meyer (quite unnecessarily). Had the police done nothing at all, Senator Kerry would have then been to answer and address the questions raised and everything would have resumed on from that point normally. That is what should have happened here. Instead the Police incited the whole great disruption by arresting a student simply for asking questions and then torturing him with a taser gun right in front of the confused and shocked assembly.

There was no crime.
None, nada, zip, zero.

Meyer was rightly laughing afterward because he is probably intelligent enough to know his Constitutional rights and he probably is planning a lawsuit against these fascist goons that arrested him.
Meyer will win that case, and the you and those goons will lose.

The pile of evidence is mounting against all of the authoritarians and fascists in America. A foreigner could say without hesitation that WE ARE ALL GUILTY. I refuse to believe that. There are many in America who are trying to defend the Constitution and all of our Civil Rights. In fact, the fight is going on constantly and the numbers who are getting loud and even violent is growing. The case in Jena Louisiana is another one.

Was it his screaming in pain which was 'enciting to riot'?

When more Americans feel the pain there will be a similar reaction and the Republicans have been warned, "Keep it up and you will also feel the pain come election day. Renounce Bush in the loudest terms and you might be spared."

So let's ignore the fact he jump the line and was even harassing the cops before hand. Oh boy he's got you guys so good! He laughed at you all the way to the jail wondering if cameras were going to be there. As I said he should be a theatre major instead of journalism.

I'm not wrong. He did break the forum rules and disrrupted when HE BROKE THE LINE! Even the woman who filmed him was a head of him in line and he broke in front of her. THAT is dissrupting the forum and their rules. So wrong. Try again though. I love how you guys are sticking up for someone who laughed at you and is probably still laughing at you.

This was a private forum of which you had to have a ticket for. I even quoted A FREAKIN LAW that stated the forum organizers could remove anyone they wanted. So answer me this: if he thought his first amendment rights were so violated why did he laugh on his way to jail? Why did he say to the officers they did nothing wrong? Why was he only a drama queen when the cameras were around? I think it's a shame how even people on the left praise soldiers who are trained to kill but show such disrespect for an officer who is trained to protect society as a whole. What if this wild guy had a gun? Students who were there have reported they were fucking scared of him. Oh and if Meyer thought that his rights were so violated why isn't he suing the people in charge of the event? Hmm I haven't heard a peep out of lawsuits have you? Nope. He's got you so good! LOL. Oh and how dare you peacedog insult my great ancster. If it wasn't for him you wouldn't even fucking be here right now. You'd be wherever your ancesters came from oh and for the record that person is Benjamin Franklin. You owe him a lot so if you disrespect him you're disrepecting me and I've done NOTHING to you all except tell you the truth about Meyer. That he is a prankster and this is a prank and he's punk'd you good. Don't want to believe me? Fine. Don't want to believe officers who are supposed to protect you and risk their lives for you every day? Fine. Funny how the only time officers have ever been praised by people is on 9/11 and than it's back to dissing them and the obvious dangerous job they have even as campus security. Disgusting. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. This isn't the bloody 60's and this isn't Kent State. He got a fucking shock. Whoopie. And what about the students who's freedom of speech HE violated? I guess THEY don't matter to you all. Just this one punk who thinks he's above the law.

1) The video is a whole five minutes long! Yeah let's see if you can get a lot from an event from a video that only shows you five minutes. Uh huh. Anyone who holds this up in court over a police report is a boob and I wouldn't want them as my lawyer.

2) The riot wasn't when he was preaching to Kerry. It was when he was running around and hooping and hollaring saying "they're going to kill me!" Funny how when the cameras weren't around him his demanor totally changed. You can even see that in the five minute video when he's downstairs at the door. When he doesn't see the camera around he's calm and fine and than when he notices the person with the camera is there again is when he starts hooping and hollaring and when other people are around as well. A girl enters the building and he tries to get her to testify for him. Yeah let's get someone to testify who has no fucking clue what's going on.

3) No hun if he listened to the female officer when she said to get to the question (which the previous one was supposed to be THE LAST ONE) he brushed her off and acted like he was some authority figure and deserved anything. He deserved crap. The crime, as the officers even told him, was inciting a riot which IS a misdemanor in FLORIDA LAW. I suggest you do your research hun before you say no law was committed. Why else do you think he got out so easily? Because it was a misdemanor. It's probably still on his record since it is against Florida law.

As I've pointed out before funny how Meyer hasn't sued anybody has he? Nope. Funny how he told the officers that they were just doing their jobs and now he's trying to get them fired. He's got you all punk'd. He's the new Ashton Kutcher. And as I've said his "inciting a riot" was when he started hooping and hollaring when the officers just touched him barely. Please watch the video.

Let's hear from someone who was actually there where as so far none of you have said they were. Were any of you defending Meyer there? No? So unless you were there you're going by a five minute video. Even the damn officers were there (doy). So here is an account from someone who was there:

The disturbance did not begin with Andrew asking the question. He caused quite a scene by bursting into the room in the middle of Q+A, rudely interrupting Kerry answering another question (what was supposed to be the last one), and demanding to be heard. The cops followed him in (I have the feeling he had been giving them a hard time outside as well)

John Kerry responded by asking him to calm down and wait his turn, that his question would be answered next.

As some of the videos show, his question was long and rambling without much focus, less of a question if you will than an outburst. John Kerry remained calm, tried to guide him to the direct question he would like answered, but Andrew continued. After Accent cut his mike off, the cops tried to guide him out and as you can all see the real event began.

I was sitting in the back row of the auditorium- less than 5 feet from where he was restrained and ended up being tasered. (you can see my green shirt next to my friend in the striped shirt on most of the videos) He WAS NOT handcuffed yet when they did it. He was still attempting to get up and resist the police officers and would not put his hands behind his back.

Within close range, I have to say that I didn't feel it was the safest situation. I did not feel like they had him under control at all- and was scared that if he did manage to get up- he would have started getting riled up again. I personally was in a location that if he had started flailing around again- I would have been at risk.

Now- my opinion- I think Andrew had intentions to be disruptive and was not going to leave peacefully. I am by no means a proponent of violence, but the way the UPD handled this situation was completely appropriate."

Oh and before some of you start calling me name's and accusing me of being a rightwinger fascists I'm actually a socialists. I'm just studying law and am a conformist. If Meyer can do whatever the hell he wants and ignore rules/laws than why do you fight Bush on his shit? Same thing just different scenerio.

So Emily, please tell us about your great uncle and what he would have said about this.

And if anyone was punked here, it was the University of Florida (who will probably have to pay a sizable settlement to Mr. Meyer), John Kerry (for looking aloof yet again)and those cops who were suspended.

You suggest that knowledge of Meyer's character is relevant to the debate about the use of force in a public forum. Last time I checked, the Bill of Rights doesn't make such distictions. You are missing the point of civil rights entirely by suggesting that Meyer's motivations should have anything to do with his right to speak without being wrestled to the ground and shocked with a cattle prod. If Meyer's intent was to get the cops to violate his civil rights then he succeeded and they were indeed punked.

As much as you or others might not like what he had to say (as evidenced by your tangential ramblings about Kerry's handling of the 2004 election results) or how he said it, Meyer's did not commit a crime and will not be prosecuted for one. Side bets anyone?

You also seem to confuse rules with laws and think that speaking out of turn equates to a crime. Even if police force was justified (and it wasn't in my opinion) there was no reason to use a cattle prod (let's call a "taser" what it really is and stop making it sound all cute and fluffy.) If those 6 cops couldn't restrain him, they need to find new careers.

By the way, there are lots of us laughing at you and your twisted logic today, Emily. And again, which slave owner was your "great" unlce?

I already told you hun which person my ancster is. I guess you can't read. You're obviously trying to be insulting to him to insult me and that's just really pathetic. You can go and read my other posts as well. Were you there peacedog? No? Majority of the people who were there at the event said it was jusitifed. What if during all his running around and hollering he hurt someone? What if that someone was a pregnant woman? How would that make you feel? And again I already told you a law that stated the forum had every right to remove him. Have you read it yet peacedog? Obviously not. And the point of bringing up his character is to show you that this was another prank and you've been punk'd. He incited a riot with his hooping and hollering and other people yelling after him and that in Florida is a misdemanor. Laughing? I don't care if you're laughing at me or not. I'm posting the truth and that's all that matters. You can face it or not. The only person here who is laughing is Andrew Meyer at you. So pathetic. The unviersity is government property and this was a private forum. Go and read the first hand account. Of course I know you probably won't since you like the idea of this being the 60's and comparing this to Kent state.

Oh and peacedog since you claim to like peace what about the other students there in the line who he broke in front of? You haven't addressed that yet. What about THEIR first amendment right he took away? I'll be waiting to hear your excuse for that.

Oh and another thing peacedog: I don't care what he had to say. It was his actions that lead to the whole thing. Did you watch the video? If he didn't act like a holier than thou authoritive jerk than he wouldn've had no problems. He pushed away (not literally) a female officer and ignored her and the male officer. He acted like he deserved anything. The people in charge of the event paid for Kerry to be there. Not him. If they wanted to make him stop his ranting than they had every right according to the law that I quoted earlier. If you don't like that than challenge the law in court. And why peacedog hasn't Meyer sued those in charge of the event and/or the officers? Interesting, no?

Sorry I missed your naming of your "supposed" ancestor Ben Franklin, Emily. But then again, can anyone blame me for missing one name in your walls of text? And you accused Meyer of "rambling"! LOL! Better watch out for those tasers!

But I'm real sorry I missed Ben's name because that makes the irony here even more delicious. Do you seriously think Ben Franklin would condone what the campus police did to Mr. Meyer. If you do, then your great uncle should be rolling in his grave and you should signup for some U.S. history classes asap.

Oh hun. If only you could know the truth about this whole thing. I find it quite sad that we're all here debating about some stupid punk who's known for pranks like this when nobody is really talking about the Jena 6 or Reverend Lennox Yearwood who were really beaten up by police and the court system. Instead it's all about this stupid guy who laughed on his way to jail and was a total drama queen for the cameras and is known for this sort of thing. And Franklin was for the law. Did you peacedog even read the first hand account from someone who was there? Probably not since you're so busy being blissful of your ignorance. I feel sorry for you I really do. But if you'd rather go by a five fucking minute video than people who were there than that just shows how depressing our society is and how fascinated we are with Youtube and the like. It makes me sad it really does. When someone does real journalism and gets to the truth you all would rather go by the five minute Youtube video than the truth. It's really sad. No wonder this society is fucked up. The last time I can really ever remember anyone praising the police was on 9/11/01. One day out of 200 something years. Sometimes I wonder why people even want to be officers when majority of the society cares more about soldiers who are trained to kill than officers who are trained to protect. It's just sad.

That says all I need to know about Emily. She would have been a Whig, a good German, a happy slave in another life. She would perhaps make a good CIA interrogator. Gonzales said torture is legal therefore it is OK.

This is the kind of person we all may have to fight in the future if Bush institutes martial law and more facisist policies. Get to know her - it might be useful some day.

I don't need your insults Onyx. You never know: I might be the one to protect you one day. What about the ACLU Onyx? They're doing the same thing I plan on doing.... Being a public defender. Thanks though for pretending to know me and anything about me. Oh and do you even know what a conformist is? If you don't it means someone who accepts societies goals and goes about doing them in the legal manner (such as not stealing, drug dealing etc). Get yourself a criminal justice book Onyx. It might help you out.

Did you watch the video? If he didn't act like a holier than thou authoritive jerk than he wouldn've had no problems.

Undone by your own words, Emily... So according to you, acting like a jerk relieves you of your 1st and 4th amendment rights? Out of the thousands of words you've typed about this today, that quote sums it all up quite nicely. You said it yourself, if he would've acted less authoritative or holy then it wouldn't have been necessary for the police to intervene. Interesting...

I've ignored your silly questions about my credibility because my credibility isn't what is important here. But, yes, I've watched 3 different videos (different angles from others at the event) read first-hand accounts (and there are more than one) and reached my own conclusions. But even if I had been there, you would still think I'm wrong and you're right. The difference is, I would always support your right to say your wrongheaded B.S. no matter how holy or authoritative you might act (and there are a ton of examples of both in this thread.)

p.s. Don't make so many assumptions in a debate... Just because my handle contains the word "Peace" doesn't mean I don't thoroughly enjoy confrontations or conflict. And thanks for the laughs... especially the analogy to Kent State... that's the first I've heard that one. LOL. Yea, I guess your idea of civil rights must involve innocent students gunned down to qualify for outrage. I hear Ben rolling around some more (and your GPA dropping;)

Onyx I'm actually a socialist so you're totally wrong again. Thanks though for pretending to know anything about me. Seems to me people have already forgotten Virginia Tech sadly. No wonder Bush feels it necessary to remind people of 9/11 all the time (even if it's for the wrong reason's). So have you done anything about the Jena 6 Onyx? I've signed a bunch of petitions a long time ago while you're worried about some stupid punk ass Kutcher wannabe. Loser. Oh and also a conformist means that if you don't like a law (which is what the officers were practicing) than instead of doing like Mr. Meyer and breaking the laws and being an anarchist you actually challenge the law where it's appropriate: court. Why else do you think I'm becoming a lawyer and wanting to be a public defender? But thanks though Onyx for pretending to know ANYTHING about me when I've not done that to any of you. You should at least show me the same respect. But than again you're okay with getting Bush for breaking the law but oh God forbid when someone you agree with does it.

Can't you people refrain from insulting people personally? I guess this is what Brad's blog has come to now. People insulting each other for no reason's at all. How sad. All I wanted to do was to show the truth about Meyer and how it was a prank and how he laughed on his way to jail about the whole event and his demanor changed and now this is how you treat people all because they have other information that you don't about the event and even quoted people who were there. No wonder I'm not a liberal anymore (that and I'm ideologically more to the left anyways).

All you guys have done is insulting me for posting a different opinion. That makes you hypocrites. HYPOCRITES! I'm sad to see this is how Brad's blog is now days. Hun I've used the Kent State analogy because people have already been using that on other forums I'm on who are liberals comparing this guy to the people at Kent state and I'm (in case you missed it) pointing out how it's WRONG. I don't need anyone's abuse for posting an opinion when I've not ONCE insulted you except to call you out on your hypocriasy. I've never onced talked about your education or lack there of and I never onced called you name's or assumed things about you. Thank God I'm not a fucking liberal asshole. I'm doing law and if you don't like it too bad because that's what I want to do and actually be a public defender and matter in society unlike some people who obviously have all day to sit on a website and insult other people's education all because they disagree. I've atleast have backed up my arguments with laws and reports. You've done NOTHING of the sort except to go by a five minute fucking video.

Hmm, I'm related to Ben Franklin too, what a coincidence. As far as Mr. Meyer is concerned, perhaps it was a planned event. Perhaps it was to show how far the sheep mentally has taken hold. For example, I was truly amazed how everyone just sat there silent, no one attempted to aid Meyers or for that matter, the police (since they seemed to have such a difficult time getting him under control). Another interesting point are the various angles and lengths of video clips of this event floating around the internet and online news sites. Editing to show only what one wants to show can shape perspective. Not to mention the various media outlines online, local and cable have differing degrees of angles and supporting facts, further illustrating how our media shape what we see, read and hear. Then there's the question of whether this student broke any laws, whether free speech was impinged upon, and whether the police used excessive force? All very important issues that relate to living in United States of America, a free society. Perhaps it was a prank, but not in the way you are suggesting Emily. Perhaps it was to bring to our attention the eroding of those freedoms your and my forefathers fought so bravely to establish.

That's interesting TM on you and Franklin. Do you know how you're related? I am through marriage through my great-grandmother. The whole thing with the video can only give so much. That's why I decided to read more on the story and see if there's anything out there and found the police report and also the article from AP and that star website which might be a local website. And you also proved my point which is video's can be manipulated especially with all the different one's out there. People would rather go by actual video's than reports and that maybe there's more to the story. This Meyer guy has a website (theandrewmeyer.com I believe) where he brags about harassing some baseball player (I don't remember his name but he's a junior) and doing other pranks like this. According to UF students I've talked to he one time defaced a 9/11 memorial that UF students worked on for those who died on that day. No matter what your feelings and beliefs of that day (and I share a lot of the same beliefs as Meyer) people did die and to me that's just mean and cruel and shouldn't have any excuses. Thank you TB for not insulting me and my intelligence because I have a different view and opinion on it and even backed my opinion up with reports and laws. But do go and check out the police report. If you don't like how things are ran you change the law(s).

I am unaware of the UF 9/11 memorial incident. I have not come across any news accounts of that. I can't agree with you more, Emily, when you say, if you don't like the way things are ran, change the law. However, it is my opinion this country has strayed so far from it's original intent at its inception. Politicians are bought and paid for by lobbies. There seems to be a real public apathy to getting involved to make those changes. Btw, I am also related thru marriage on my mother's side of the family.

Emily wrote:
> "Funny how when the cameras weren't around him his demanor totally changed."

Emily, if 8 people surround you while you're trying to ask a question, grab and pull at your arms, arrest you and handcuff you, throw you to down the floor, and then shoot you repeatedly with a taser gun, I'm sure your own demeanor would be very, very different at that point then it would be either 20 minutes beforehand or 20 minutes afterward.

It's called Police abuse.

I just hope that you get a chance to be arrested and tasered multiple times very soon yourself, since you like and applaude this type of lawless gestapo treachery so much. Writing this garbage over and over again here is enough of a crime to justify it - by your own standards.

And the quotes below aren't insults?? I think the pot is calling kettle black. Anyways I appologies if I insulted you. I was wrong - just my crude way of showing you that your attitude pissed me off.
_____

You're a hypocrite and nothing else.

I've never onced talked about your education or lack there of and I never onced called you name's or assumed things about you. Thank God I'm not a fucking liberal asshole.

I've signed a bunch of petitions a long time ago while you're worried about some stupid punk ass Kutcher wannabe. Loser.

Thanks though for pretending to know me and anything about me. ...Get yourself a criminal justice book Onyx. It might help you out.

Yes, Sherlock, Emily should get her own blog if she's going to go on about this thing so long, irritating everybody to death, but I should also mention that commenters are supposed to pick ONE screen name and stick with it.

You deserve kudos for your valiant attempt to educate here, but you have to realize that those who typically post over here are Kerry haters --- pure and simple. They don't want to hear your reasoned and passionate arguments --- sadly. They had already judged Kerry as one hundred percent wrong when they first came across the story. Unfortunately nothing you say will move them in any other direction, they're already sure they've seen the light and Kerry's just wrong --- as usual. This is a great site in so many ways, especially Brad's undying devotion to getting all the peoples' votes counted fairly. But any time you venture into Kerry territory, the place gets poisonous. Thanks for all your brave attempts to bring in a legal student's view. You certainly expanded my understanding of the event. I too think that Meyer's game was just that, otherwise he would have asked Kerry his question, which Kerry was ready to answer, and let Kerry answer it. Instead he staged all the theatrics for his own personal reasons.

To Agent 99- Please don't insult me. You're just being a jerk and have nothing else to say. You're trying to insult me and my family by your cheap and immature shots. Why don't you go post about the Jena six rally? It's sad there are more posts here about a white prankster guy than about REAL injustice with one part of our society that gets to the bigger picture about how our court system isn't justice. One of the many reason's why I want to become a public defender.

Oh and to all of you insulting me and my political affiliation is really immature and childish. I'm surprised Brad allows this crap on his blog. I guess that's what you get for telling the truth to a bunch of people who don't want to hear it.

You are dead wrong about the Kerry prejudgment! If that had been Mother Teresa standing up there doing squat while someone was being accosted by the police, which it certainly would never have been, I'd have reacted as violently against her. All the people in that room, and especially the senator, should have brought that shit to an IMMEDIATE halt. Unforgivable. Inexcusable, no matter how many excuses people think up. Period.

Do you want REAL police abuse Derek? Have you seen the video yet of Reverend Lennox Yearwood? No? Go watch it. THAT is police brutality. What about the first amendment rights of the students he broke in front of? I guess they should've said "fuck the rules!" and did what he did. Ah he's got you guys good and he got a job offer out of this. Hey now I know how to get a job offer with a law firm!

To Tm- that's very interesting about the marriage thing. But yes a good number of UF students I've talked to have all backed this up and said he did that. Also there apparently is a memorial for an officer who died on the job saving people and someone defaced it with "don't tase me bro" sometime earlier this week. I heard about it I believe on Wednesday. How disgusting. Officers are supposed to follow the laws by the book. If they don't they can really screw up a whole investigation. One thing I find very interesting about this whole thing is if Meyer thought he was done so wrong why isn't he suing anybody? The campus police? The people who ran the event? The school? I haven't heard a peep about it.

They wouldn't be doing it if your position had any basis in rule of law and if you did not come back swinging, insulting and antagonizing further every ten minutes or so. So, yes, you're the perp here. Just let it go.

Oh and on "come back swinging" I guess I should just let them insult me, my intelligence and my family. Nobody else is going to do it for me that much is clear. And another thing: if someone replies to me I guess I shouldn't reply and be rude and let their comments go unanswered.

He has to be asked by them [the people putting on the event] to leave, and then refuse and/or become a violent aggressor before the cops can TOUCH him, no matter what you linked. He wasn't asked to leave. He was not being violent. Kerry even said he wanted to answer his questions. The cops laid hands on him illegally, never even told him he was under arrest before they tasered him. Pay attention. And since you've stated your position five or six hundred times already, you're just sticking around to get in fights. One more fight and it's moderation queue.

Why has my earlier post not been published? I worked hard on that. Anyway, I feel the police tasered Andrew because they wanted to. And I feel Emily is psychotic. This is not an insult. Have you noticed how much she writes!? And have you noticed how she focuses on some small things and ignore the important points? I wonder if she knows she is being unreasonable. Feel free to edit this if you deem necessary. But, it's important to print this.

Emily, I have a 21 year old son at a college campus. If this happened to him, and I heard about it, I probably would've immediately left work, got in my car, and drove to Boston, and went BALLISTIC!!! 21 year old college students shouldn't get tasered on their campus asking questions...PERIOD!!!

Emily, you may have spoke to many UF students who say Meyers defaced a 9/11 memorial, where is the proof? Was he arrested and charged with doing this crime? Did they say this after he was arrested this week at the Kerry function? Why are you so eager to believe what people say without proof? And, while you point to laws and other news articles to back up the points you are making, why has this defacing incident not come out in the media? Certainly if it is a known fact or at least suspicion Meyers committed thise act, the guy would have been if not questioned, charged with the crime. And just because someone defaced a memorial with "don't tase me bro" earlier in the week does not mean Meyers did it. And to answer your question as to why Meyers has been so quiet, perhaps he's planning his lawsuit, or perhaps it is as I said earlier. Maybe he planned it (demanding to be heard, asking important questions, in a very passionate manner) in order to spark a reaction one way or the other. As far as the officer's reactions, not sure if he planned for it, but if anything, it did bring to our attention issues that as of late seem to becoming more and more common. And sadly the sheep just complacently accept it.

You know, Meyers could do a very interesting research dissertation, or project/presentation on all that has transpired. Has anyone thought just maybe this was an experiment to prove a point? Look at the discussions and arguments this whole incident has spurred. Which is a good thing, I might add. Important issues like free speech, the media (bias, propoganda, sensationalization, not to mention desensitizing) police brutality, lawsuits (we do love to sue the pants of each other in this country) etc. Question is, are we just going to forget about this incident when the next big sensationalized news item hits the airwaves and internet? I'd like to think not. Instead citizens in this country need to do more than just talk about this, and do something about what's actually going on in our country? It's obious, our politicians are good at talking the talk and very bad at actually practicing what they preach.
This quote says it all:

"A democracy cannot survive as a permanent form of government. It can last only until its citizens discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority (who vote) will vote for the candidates promising the greatest benefits from the public purse, with the result that a democracy will always collapse from loose fiscal policies, always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest democratic nations has been 200 years. Each has been through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith, from faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to selfishness, from selfishness to apathy, from apathy to dependency, and from dependency back again into bondage."

Found this somewhere. I can't remember where unfortunately, so I can't give credit where credit is due, but it essentially says the same thing just in a more descriptive way.

"The USA is a Constitutional Republic, with a constitution written SPECIFICALLY to keep the “tyranny of democracy” at bay. Which is completely ignored and forgotten in the big bucks business of politics.

Democracy:
Two wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner.

Representative democracy:
When the flock elects a wolf to decide what’s for dinner.

Federal Government:
The means by which the sheep will be fooled into voting for a Democracy.

Constitutional Republic:
Voting on dinner is expressly forbidden, and the sheep are armed.

Freedom:
Two very hungry wolves looking for dinner and finding a very well-informed and well-armed sheep!"

Yuh, we Americans are darn pathetic lately, have to agree with you there! But, what, as a non-American, are you doing with so much to say about our Constitutional travails if you already think we're so pathetic? Just slumming?

This next song we're going to dedicate to a great American organization.
Tonight I'd like to dedicate this to our boys in the FBI.

Well, wait a minute. It's hard to be an FBI man. I mean, first
of all, being an FBI man, you have to be over 40 years old.
And the reason is that it takes at least 25 years with the
organization to be that much of a bastard. It's true. You just
can't join, you know. It needs an atmosphere where your
natural bastardness can grow and develop and take a
meaningful shape in today's complex society.

But that's not why I want to dedicate the song to the FBI. I
mean, the job that they have to do is a drag. I mean, they have
to follow people around, you know. That's part of their job.
Follow me around.

I'm out on the highway and I'm drivin' down the road and I
run out of gasoline. I pull over to the side of the road. They
gotta pull over too - make believe that they ran out too, you know.

I go to get some gasoline. They have to figure out whether
they should stick with the car or follow me. Suppose I don't
come back and they're stayin' with the car.

Or if I fly on the airplanes, I could fly half fare because I'm 12
to 22. And they gotta pay the full fare. But the thing is that
when you pay the full fare, you have to get on the airplane
first, so that they know how many seats are left over for the
half fare kids. Right? And sometimes there aren't any seats
left over, and sometimes there are, but that doesn't mean that
you have to go.

Suppose that he gets on and fills up the last seat, so you can't
get on. Then he gets off then you can get on. What's he gonna
do?

Well, it's a drag for him. But that's not why I want to dedicate
the song to the FBI.

During these hard days and hard weeks, everybody always
has it bad once in a while. You know, you have a bad time of
it, and you always have a friend who says "Hey man, you
ain't got it that bad. Look at that guy." And you at that
guy, and he's got it worse than you. And it makes you feel
better that there's somebody that's got it worse than you.

But think of the last guy. For one minute, think of the last
guy. Nobody's got it worse than that guy. Nobody in the
whole world. That guy...he's so alone in the world that he
doesn't even have a street to lay in for a truck to run him over.
He's out there with nothin'. Nothin's happenin' for that cat.

And all that he has to do to create a little excitement in his
own life is to bum a dime from somewhere, call up the FBI.
Say "FBl?", they say "Yes", say "I think Uncle Ho and Chair-
man Mao and their friends are comin' over for dinner" (click)
Hang up the phone.

And within two minutes, and not two minutes from when he
hangs up the phone, but two minutes from when he first put
the dime in, they got 30,000 feet of tape rollin'; files on tape;
pictures, movies, dramas, actions on tape. But then they send
out a half a million people all over the entire world, the globe,
they find out all they can about this guy.

'Cause there's a number of questions involved in the guy. I
mean, if he was the last guy in the world, how'd he get a dime
to call the FBI? There are plenty of people that aren't the last
guys that can't get dimes. He comes along and he gets a dime.

I mean, if he had to bum a dime to call the FBI, how was he
gonna serve dinner for all of those people? How could the
last guy make dinner for all those people. And if he could
make dinner, and was gonna make dinner, then why did he
call the FBI?

They find out all of those questions within two minutes. And
that's a great thing about America. I mean, this is the only
country in the world...l mean, well, it's not the only country
in the world that could find stuff out in two minutes, but it's
the only country in the world that would take two minutes
for that guy.

Other countries would say "Hey, he's the last guy...screw
him", you know? But in America, there is no discrimination,
and there is no hypocrisy,'cause they'll get anybody. And that's
a wonderful thing about America.

And that's why tonight I'd like to dedicate it to every FBI
man in the audience. I know you can't say nothin', you know,
you can't get up and say "Hi!" cause then everybody knows
that you're an FBI man and that's a drag for you and your
friends.

They're not really your friends, are they? I mean, so you can't
get up and say nothin' 'cause otherwise, you gotta get sent
back to the factory and that's a drag for you and it's an
expense for the government, and that's a drag for you.

We're gonna sing you this Christmas carol. It's for all you
bastards out there in the audience tonight. It's called "The
Pause of Mr. Claus".

Why do you sit there so strange?
Is it because you are beautiful?
You must think you are deranged
Why do police guys beat on peace guys?

You must think Santa Claus weird
He has long hair and a beard
Giving his presents for free
Why do police guys mess with peace guys?

Let's get Santa Claus 'cause;
Santa Claus has a red suit
He's a communist
And a beard, and long hair
Must be a pacifist
What's in the pipe that he's smoking?

Mister Claus sneaks in your home at night.
He must be a dope fiend, to put you up tight
Why do police guys beat on peace guys?

The kid is a spoiled brat. He wasn't ever going to get to ask his question in the first place because time had ran out before it was his turn.

At that point he started making a whole scene about it and the police moved in and threatened to have him arrested for disturbing the event.

At that point Kerry jumped in and told them to let him ask his question.

By this time he has already caused trouble without ever asking a question and was only still there by the graces of Sen. Kerry, whom he attacks in his questions (this is the start of the video).

What the video doesn't pick up well on is that after he said "blow job", one of the event staff makes a signal to have his mic killed. When the mic is killed Meyer starts screaming and yelling about it, at which point the police, already fed up with his antics grab him and try to take him away. If he would have complied he probably would have been taken outside and have been sent away peacefully. However he resisted at which point they took him down and tried to cuff him. The succeeded in cuffing one hand but he was flailing and kicking and they could not cuff the other so they used a taser to stun the other hand so they could cuff it, which is perfectly legal given that he was violently (kicking officers) resisting arrest.

The video does a poor job of explaining what actually happened, and unless you were actually there you really don't know what happened. For one last bit of evidence, go watch the video and you'll notice that when he gets arrested mid question all of the students are cheering because everyone is fed up with him and they all agreed that he was not behaving appropriately for the event between the use of profanity and his previous fit because there wasn't enough time for him to ask a question (because he is more special than all the other students waiting to ask a question).

this is not a free speech issue, its just a dumb kid trying to pull a publicity stunt who thought that resisting arrest and kicking cops could end happily.

Looks like some young people in the US are going to get more and more difficult to deal with. Its about time.
If you see the tape, you can hear Kerry drone on and on about how he's going to answer the question while being totally disconnected to the violence happening before his eyes. This guy is too narcotic to be in a leadership position. Meyer's questions addressed this very point. Why is Kerry such a lapdog and a sell-out?

The cops reaction is typical Florida. The big fat female one loves to show off for her male peers, who probably talk down to her constantly. They probably all are losing their homes to foreclosure. This is so actionable, the university should eat a big one, and these cops should get suspended. There's gonna be a lot of laughing at these authoritarians in the long run.

It does not matter WHAT happened before the video started; it doesn't matter if he kicked any cops; the cops broke the law. IT UNEQUIVOCALLY IS A FREE SPEECH ISSUE. It's as though the fascists have spiked the water supply....

kindda late in the thread (maybe too late?- been about three hrs. since last post)but I'm going to throw in with Emily and David #109. I've watched only one of the meyer vids and IMO he was obnoxious, had no desire to have his questions answered, and was simply there to be heard. If he broke no law, then we need one more law. I've certainly NOT read everything in this thread but did look for and not notice the name of our friend Joe Cannon of Cannonfire anywhere in the body of the thread. I think Joe would side with Emily and David also. Hang in there Em!

Actually, dkd, even if he did break a law, which has by no means been shown, the police still are guilty. They had no business laying hands on him until they had given him clear and lawful orders, and been ignored or attacked. I defended cops for decades, and the only defense for these idiots would be temporary insanity. Clearly, he'd not just murdered somebody, or even harmed anyone, because the cops would already have been approaching him before the cameras started rolling if that were the case. So that LAME excuse for a defense is moot, and you maybe want to think through your ideas about a law against obnoxiousness.

Just what we need more laws! The whole incident could have and should have been handled much differently. Even if he did barge in and yell from the back to be heard, Senator Kerry acknowledged him. He didn't have to. Especially since it was at the very end of the program. Had he raised such a stink before approaching the mic and the organizers thought him a problem, why did they not escort him out immediately. Probably because he was not causing the kind of ruckus as some commentors have claimed. So what that Meyer prefaced his questions in a very passionate manner (some have said obnoxioius). Is that against the law? And since it was the end of the program, if one did not want to listen, one could get up and walk out. Instead people just sat there like boobs as things escalated. It could very well have been that Meyer brought attention to himself before going to the mic by speaking up wanting to be heard and the officers were more on guard or should I say the organizers perhaps were weary of what he might have to say. However, he did not break the law, he was not told at the moment the mic turned off that he was under arrest. Seriously, had they turned the mic off, and without laying a hand on him, told him, time's up and just stood there, what do you suppose Meyer would have done? He could have yelled the rest of his questions and raised a stink. But as we all could hear, Senator Kerry began answering his question, albiet in the mist of the melee, which in my opinion was very bizarre and surreal if you ask me because I do believe Senator Kerry who seems to be a very eloquent speaker, could have handled, and perhaps, diffused the situation if only he had spoke up with more force.

I just got done watching the horrifying videos again, and I'm sorry, but they start with Kerry speaking, clearly finishing an answer to the questioner before Meyer. If ANY hollering and obscenities to get to the mic were issued, they would have been on these videos, unless one is alleging that the kid started in before the question before his and then waited his turn.

And did anybody notice that the campus policewoman who made the report was:

...working an overtime function at the University Auditorium for Accent presents Senator John Kerry...

and

...the Accent Director, Max Tyroler, asked us to take him out of the auditorium and had his microphone turned off stating, "He had said enough." Officer Wise and I grabbed both of the man's arms and asked him to come with us out of the auditorium to speak with us...

Okay, here's my question: why has no other video (since apparently there were more people than just Meyer's videoing the event), why has no video surfaced showing this supposed ouburst of Meyers before approaching the mic? Even if not on camera, at least being heard yelling obsenities and the such. I would imagine if such a thing existed, it would perhaps change the scenario. And I would question why security did not escort him out beforehand. However, nothing has surfaced which leads me to question if such a thing occurred.

It might explain why they were hovering, but it does not change their having grabbed him for speaking in a manner they did not like. According to them, the event organizer for the campus wanted him silenced and out of the building, and so they grabbed him. In any case, even if he had made a scene before the cameras started, Kerry had given the go ahead, said he'd take the kid's question/s. The organizers clearly consented to this arrangement. So the kid was obnoxiously exercising his right to free speech, with the consent of the organizers, and should have been able to rely on not being manhandled from the moment that consent was restablished... even if that consent had been iffy in the moments before.

If in fact the suit who had his mic cut was an Accent Director, and if he asked the cops to get Meyer out of the building, the cops are supposed to tell the kid clearly that he's been asked to leave, that it's not optional, and not lay hands on him until he's refused and/or become violent with them. They simply grabbed him and started to try to haul him out. From everyone's perspective, he was being manhandled for his speech. That the cops may have been acting merely as goons for Accent doesn't change the fact that they are peace officers who do not have any more right to assault a fellow citizen than the next guy.

If they had followed the law and protocol, given the kid a full chance to leave under his own power, it still would have been a free speech issue, but the cops wouldn't have been guilty of police brutality. In the same circumstance, anyone would have felt confused and threatened by being grabbed by the police, by anyone.

Oh I agree. They never gave him a chance to leave on his own accord. However, I still question the claims that he was using profanity before going to the mic. I would imagine yelling out profanities at a public or private event may not break any laws,but could get one escorted out the door. I think most civil human beings would not want to even acknowledge someone yelling obscenities at them. Course there are those that are provoked by that sort of thing and would yell back, but in my opinion that's just lowering yourself to their standard. In any event, I guess my point is if Meyers had indeed yelled profanity and yelled obnoxious statements why was he not asked to leave beforehand? Even if Kerry gave him the go ahead. There is such a thing as decorum. I can only imagine that John Kerry's handlers were freaking out when Kerry gave Meyers the go ahead to speak. But then again, as I said before, maybe they assumed Kerry being a good orator could diffuse Meyers. God knows now, Kerry surely did NOT do anything to diffuse the situation that followed.

And, dropping the legalistic crap now, it seems as though Kerry was doing a sort of variation on *'s town hall meeting theme, but instead of prescreening for only friendly questions, he limited the questioning to a ridiculous extent. That's not a town hall meeting --- as was advertized --- that's a lecture. The kid, all of us, had a right to think we could speak with Kerry under those circumstances, and sitting for two hours while Kerry droned, only to be told you couldn't ask your question, would be irksome in the extreme, and would have made me feel as though this was no longer a public servant I'd come to see, but a member of the ruling class. That's way so not okay, and instead of hassling over this kid's manners, we should be hassling over how to change the manners of the senator and his goons.

Totally Agree! But, even so, it doesn't mean we should shout out profanity. That would be totally immature. However, I have to say the profanity caught on tape, while being manhandled and tasered are wholly justified. Any person in that situation would have been yelling a few curse words. If not, then they're probably one of the apathic sheep.

I'm sure he wasn't "yelling obscenities". Someone probably came up to him in line for the mic and told him the senator wouldn't be taking more than a few questions, so he could just sit down... something like that. And he probably said something like: What the fuck? I've sat here for two hours waiting, and I want my turn! or That's bullshit! This is a town hall and I want my turn! He would have been your basic pissed-off potty-mouthed kid, expressing displeasure and insisting on getting to ask what he'd come to ask. He probably did not lower his voice to say whatever it was he said, either. That is enough to get called "yelling obscenities" when the police are trying to excuse themselves for messing up.

I'm referring to a previous news account and to other commenters, claiming he burst into the auditorium screaming profanities and demanding to be heard. I definitely can see him, responding in the way you mentioned, if in fact that was the scenario. It could very well be enough to be classified as "yelling obscenities". Those in authority do hate that. In any event, it will be interesting to see if other video emerges, as I'm sure others had their cameras rolling throughout the event, and as some of the videos posted online that I've watched, some appeared to be getting a kick out of the whole incident.

Okay. I'm going back to shutting up about it, now. It's just appalling to me that any of my fellow citizens think his demeanor excuses cops grabbing him and tasering him for the content or timbre of his free speech. I think people should be aware that there is a faction out there who are trying to make a totalitarian regime seem popular and righteous. If some of these supposed kids here really think there was justification for this, they have not been given an American education and they have been conditioned to act like bleating little herd animals... in denial of the Constitution. If anyone set out to horrify me right down to my bone marrow, congratulations. Mission accomplished.

There is no excuse, period. Sorry to say it, but I believe that dumbing down is what our American public school system has been doing for some time. From my perspective as a highly educated citizen, parent and part-time college English instructor, it truly amazes me what does goes on, and what does NOT go on in public schools. And I would like to add when my teen son, who has always been an outside the box sort of kid (thank God!), watched this video was completely appalled that no one tried to help Mr. Meyers. Anyway, thanks for the forum to discuss this very important issue.

The debate about this assault on Meyers is just astonishing. Like others, I've watched several videos of the incident, several times. Clearly, he was assaulted, plain & simple.

If he had been shouting obscenities earlier & "demanding to be heard", as some have evidently claimed, why was he was not arrested then for such disruptive behavior? The officers seemed eager enough to arrest him in these videos for much lesser behavior. That claim lacks all credibility (kinda like kerry).

People here & elsewhere have claimed all sorts of things happened that didn't happen. Someone commenting on DailyKos the other day claimed that Meyers ran down the aisle & grabbed the mic away from someone: a pure fabrication.

After kerry pointed to him, indicating he could speak, he was aggressive but civil. He was not disruptive. He thanked kerry for taking the time to come. As soon as he said the words "blow job", the man behind & to his left made the cut-throat sign & they shut off the mic. Meyers took a small step backward in reaction & said "Oh thanks for cutting my mic!". At that moment they put hands on him. He had done absolutely nothing unusual, & certainly nothing illegal.

I must ask a question of our friend Emily, at the risk of unintentionally incurring the wrath of Agent 99:
In all seriousness, my dear, are you not aware of how embarrassingly ridiculous you sound? Setting aside the pettier aspects of your comments that happen to push my buttons--small, grammatical infractions such as your apparent inability to grasp the difference between 'then' & 'than', or your persistent inappropriate use of apostrophes --sorry, I used to teach-- there is the fact that the cadence of your discourse brings so vividly to mind the vision of a street-smart, gum-popping incarnation of Rosie Perez at her most Brooklynesque. Colorful & endearing on the 'silver screen', but a bit disconcerting when spewed with such earnest wrong-headedness by, God help us, a potential future attorney.
Good grief, girl, get a grip.

No, it's okay, Joan. I was trying to discourage people from goading Emily into continuing the insult-fest. It failed anyway. She made it very plain that in her book irking people is a corporal offense, so to speak. She did not even see the parallels between her behavior here and that of the subject assault victim. She was clearly warned a number of times, still refused to desist, griped about my hypocrisy and other perceived failings, the works. If I'd been a real cop, by her standards, I should have tasered her and hauled her off.

my view is that, to set a strong example, charges need to be laid that will result in in about five to ten years imprisonment for all the campus police present ... the police participated in a criminal conspiracy, and carried out discrete and chargeable criminal acts in furtherance of that criminal conspiracy

kerry's weak actions during the incident, and during the referenced theft of the prior presidential election, showed him to be totally unworthy of the presidency ... it was reminiscent of the deer in the headlights reaction of bush at the children's school, when told the country was under attack ...

however, listening to the present tape kerry was even worse ... he continued dealing with the substance of the student's question ... instead of having the courage and smarts to deal with the campus police's false arrest and imprisonment [and torture of the student ... http://www.google.com/se...n&q=us+torture+laws ... which, in my opinion, would technically subject the campus police to the jurisdiction of the international criminal court ... the police are the face of the us as a fully functioning coercive police state]

in my opinion, the office of the us presidency, and its constitutional structure, is disastrous if one wanted to create a democracy ... presidents of both parties quickly and seriously run amok as soon as they gain office ..
the problem is beyond the individuals occupying the office, it's in its formal constitutional political structure, which is anathema to a democracy ... it's proven to be a totally rigid, and an antiquated authoritarian structure ... no! contrary to popular myth, the founders were not divine, and not even particularly smart ... there was nothing very radical about that bunch of quasi-fascists

it needs to be reformed, perhaps by abolishing the independent executive, and folding it into the house, and then clip the wings of the senate, to ensure it's not a ongoing trouble maker, used as a source of mischief to defeat the will of the people ... reform it towards a democracy, specifically a parliamentary democracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/...iki/Parliamentary_system

finally, students need to find out details of their legal rights of powers of civilian arrest, so that they could, for instance, as in the case of the campus police promptly arrest all the police present if and when they attempt to carry out an unlawful arrest

there appears to be misunderstanding about the nature of this public, or semi public, forum ... it is not an event where the police or kerry have total power and control of the event ... the students have power there also ... discomfiture by kerry, per se, or any police officer, isn't a license for the police to make an unlawful and capricious, arrest ... police typically are not the sharpest knives in the draw .... and it'll be interesting to know what they knew of the relevant law before they made the arrest ... although by that time they will probably be subject to a little witness polishing

the actions of the police were predictable ... typically self-righteous authoritarian types gravitate to these jobs

I can't believe I just read that whole thing!, but I had to make sure someone else didn't already point it out...

and that is, you realize, that "Emily" is not actually a person. well, at least not one named Emily, nor is she a socialist. More likely, "she" is a neo-liberal agent provocateur, employed by a relative of the Rove family, or some other similar relation.

Watch the pattern... indignant outrage, followed by a complete tangent (spin doctor) of "you're an idiot if you believe 2+2=4, and therefore you're wrong." So of course someone goes, 'oh crap, i believe 2+2=4, so I must be an idiot and therefore am wrong." (except those of us able to think for ourselves, of course) Classic Orwellian doublespeak.

And certainly the need for repetitiveness and sheer volume of responses lends itself to the idea that this person is being paid for their time. I think "her" tone is intentional to cull out our emotional response & bypass the sheer illogicalness of the statements made. I think "her" spelling & grammar errors are intentional to deter us from thinking this is coming from a highly educated person.

I'd add that the existence of "Connie's" post (#76) lends support to my theory. All of a sudden a rational, calm voice lauds Emily for her "reasoned and passionate arguments"? I don't think so. I think Connie & Emily are one and the same.

And as for the theory that she's just psychotic, when's the last time you heard someone psychotic supporting a pro-status-quo stance, much less be against a conspiracy 'theory'?!

Or I *might* be wrong. Maybe these posts are all written by a poor sap who received a frontal lobotomy courtesy of the same... in any case...

Oh, and T.M. - I think we're in the stage of apathy, very close to dependency...

Tasers are marketed as alternatives to deadly force to protect both the public and cops' lives (although more and more civilians are dying from them every year). There was no need for that kind of force with 5 cops sitting on him.

In fact, they handled the whole thing wrong, starting with the grabbing. You don't just grab somebody like that. You could see that pushed the adrenaline way up.

I've seen cops in similar situations, successfully using voice, wits and reason. This bunch was just another mob.

three Questions, If meyers comes forward at a later time and says that it was all an act, how will all of you feel? will you still support him? or would you be angry? thats it. If you are going to answer the question, please actually answer it, I've noticed that alot of people have a tendency not to answer peoples questions and instead go off on long tangents like this one.